Posts Tagged With: weights

It must be opposite week because today I thought I would want to run after all my excitement last night. I got on the treadmill and all I wanted to do was weights! I wanted to lift and row and bench and get tough! Oh well the plan said to run 7 km so I did that. As an award I gave myself a few reps of various dumbbell activities. Unfortunately, I may have been too excited and possibly hurt myself. Always remember to practice good form and posture!! Not to worry, I’m okay now, but for a good five minutes I thought I was having a stroke or was going to die from pain that ached and stabbed through between my pec and deltoid…? Then it hit my chest and heart and I had to curl up and scream a little… Oh the agony, what did I do? The chest pain is gone and now it’s only to one side. I’ve hurt this muscle or whatever it is that exists there before. I don’t know how I pulled it or strained it. But seeing that I’ve pulled the muscle once before due to my lack of flexibility I think I might have gone too hard tonight. Oh Well, that will be all tonight because it’s time to get out of sweaty clothes and stretch these arms out.

Like this:

It felt just like yesterday I welcomed the weekend in and now we’re already parting ways again. What a shame; I could use some more recovery time. Juneathon Day 8 activities were simple, an early but fast 5 k. My NTC program called for a fast 3 mile run so I have to round up and do the full 5k because I live in a metric world. I had a fantastic run for being extremely tired and having super sore legs from 2 days ago! It was a bit my fault, I stayed up to watch the Cotto vs Martinez fight and boy was it great! I’m beginning to find a new love for Boxing… I’ve learned how to wrap my hands and proper jabs…. But, back to my run… this was a “fast” run, not one of the “steady” runs. How was I ever going to pull this off? I figured, just run, who cares if it ends up being fast or steady, I just need to cover the distance. I knew I was slowing down in kilometer 2 and 3 because of all the hills on the path I take, so I told myself to just keep calm and run on. Keep pushing. Keep going. After reaching 3 KMs, I looked at my watch and realized, hey, I’m not doing so bad, a little better than my average, let’s step it up and make this a fast 5 k! In the end, I finished one of my fastest 5 k runs in quite some time! I know I normally don’t want to bore you with the stats since I’m considered a “slow” runner but I am super proud of myself so I’d like to share I ran a 7’07” pace (my average being tracked right now shows 7’42″/km) and I completed the 5 k in 35:40 (mm:ss)!!! This is super exciting because I have been running most of my 5k races in the last year around the 37 minute range. Last Sunday I thought I had a fantastic 5 K (which I still believe I did at the time) and that was 36:46! I’ve shaved off an entire minute in a week!!! Is this possible??? This honestly, has to be the work of all the cross-training/weight training/NTC exercises and workouts I have been completing throughout the week. I am just so happy that I am so close to breaking that 35 minute mark again. I think it’s been almost 2 years since I’ve been able to run a 5k under 35 but I can feel it coming!!!!

Okay, so what you’re really here for is probably a tip or an exercise that will help with being a better, happier, and healthier you. This is of course one of my go-to’s and favourite weight exercises, the flat Bench Press with Dumbbells. This exercise is great for your biceps and triceps, as well as pecs and front shoulders (anterior deltoid) if you’re trying to work those out.

Here’s how to Bench Press with Dumbbells:1. Start with your back laid down on a bench with weights in your hands (I am currently using 10 lbs)
2. Keep your elbows bent a little past 90° and dumbbells horizontal to your body aligned with your chest
3. Push your arms straight up so the dumbbells meet in front of you
4. Pull your arms back down and repeat (I do reps of 10 for 2 times each night after a workout)

There’s a few different variations to this with how you rest your feet or how you’re angled. Do a little research of your own and testing to figure out what works best for you. Don’t hurt yourself though!

Today is workout #3 of week 4 of my NTC Program. The workout is called Dream Team and lasts 45 minutes. It’s new in the program. I haven’t done this workout yet. It kind of sucked, I’m not going to lie. This was the first one that didn’t have a 30 second recovery, anywhere! I think the first 5 minutes went straight through each exercise and then I had a 10 second transition between each 1 minute exercise. Whoooweeeee was it ever tough. There was also one exercise that required balancing your back on a foam roller, lifting both legs up, and doing an opposite arm/leg crunch, I failed miserably at this the first time around. My foam roller is definitely not long enough to support my entire back so I can hold up my legs. I improvised the next two times this came around and did bicycle crunches as fast as I could for the minute. Following this 45 minute workout, I did some dumbbell weights again – rows, bench press, and curls. After a whole lot of sweat and struggles, I completed my workout. So, that concludes my Juneathon Day 6 activities.

One of my favourite dumbbell exercises is the one arm dumbbell row (bent over). This exercise focuses on the upper back and the trap muscle, and I’m sure some other benefits come with this as well. I’m currently doing these with 10 pound weights and will eventually move up a little bit more.

Here’s how to Dumbbell Row (One Arm Bent-Over Dumbbell Row):1. Using a bench (or chair or even your couch if you have to), bend and rest one knee and hand down
2. Keep your back straight and parallel to the ground
3. Begin with your opposite hand holding a weight of your choice extended and foot flat on the floor
4. Lift the weight towards your hip until your elbow pasts 90° (a little above your back and you feel your shoulder blade press inwards)
5. Lower and repeat – reps of 10 on both side

Tomorrow is a rest day on the NTC program so I will have to improvise and plug in a run or a workout of some sort. For now, I’m off to bed.

For those of you following who’s in the US or Canada, I hope you’re enjoying the last long weekend of the summer. For those everywhere else, I hope you’re enjoying the weekend even if it is just a regular weekend for you.

I am off to a good start, run today and some weights. We will see what tomorrow brings. My back/left side is in a lot of pain right now. I’m not sure if it is due to the lack of stretching today or maybe I messed up with the weights today, but I’m in a lot of pain! I mean, sitting here not moving hurts! I don’t think it’s all from weights or lack of stretching because my side was already hurting when I was running today. The run wasn’t very tough, very hot yes but the pain was there for quite some time running. I tried stretching a lot while running but I guess that didn’t help. I got it massaged a little bit after working out too and that felt like it made the pain subside but once I stood up the pain started all over again. What’s up with this? I feel like walking is impossible! Sorry I’m just rambling and complaining about this pain but I really hope it goes away before laser tag tomorrow. I’m ready to zap down some kids! Haha.

Only 15 days left to the Terry Fox 10k! I am definitely not ready. Ideally I should have completed 10k now and start tapering down…. What taper?! I still haven’t hit 10k straight in a while, let alone 5! It’s a good thing this isn’t a competition instead it is about getting out there and doing something good. I will definitely train harder so I can one day hit a half marathon. I keep saying it’s the heat that’s keeping me back but it’s probably the humidity and stuffiness. Today’s run was 30% owe my side hurts, keep running, 65% focus on your breathing, steady, innnnnn, out, innnnnn, out, and 5% oh look at that over there or not thinking at all: the best thing and greatness in running – when you don’t even realize you’re running anymore and just loving life.